Are You Awake?

I ask that myself everyday…I am not a morning bird but more of a night owl….always have been.  Getting out of bed for me in the morning is not that bad, I enjoy quiet mornings…that hasn’t happened for a few years now, but we happily adjusted!

With that said, I am excited to welcome “National Sleep Awareness Week” today!  Beginning March 5 through through March 11- parents, students, teachers and school leaders are to experiment with practices that will restore balance to student schedules and encourage healthy sleep. Amen!  I think we should practice these skills the whole month if not quarter?  Any takers?

This week is a good time to reflect on your sleep cycle.  Are you getting enough sleep and, if not, how that might be affecting your life and what you might do to change things. How about the kids? Here are some numbers to think about:

Newborns sleep a total of 10.5 to 18 hours a day on an irregular schedule with periods of one to three hours spent awake.

Infants typically sleep 9-12 hours during the night and take 30 minute to two-hour naps, one to four times a day – fewer as they reach age one.

Toddlers (1-3) need about 12-14 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. When they reach about 18 months of age their naptimes will decrease to once a day lasting about one to three hours.

Preschoolers (3-5 years) typically sleep 11-13 hours each night and most do not nap after five years of age. As with toddlers, difficulty falling asleep and waking up during the night are common. With further development of imagination, preschoolers commonly experience nighttime fears and nightmares. In addition, sleepwalking and sleep terrors peak during preschool years.

Children (5-12)need 10-11 hours of sleep.  There is an increasing demand on their time from school: homework,sports and other extracurricular and social activities. In addition, school-aged children become more interested in TV, computers, the media and Internet as well as caffeine products – all of which can lead to difficulty falling asleep, nightmares and disruptions to their sleep. Sleep problems and disorders are prevalent at this age. Poor or inadequate sleep can lead to mood swings, behavioral problems such as hyperactivity and cognitive problems that impact on their ability to learn in school.

Adults should get between seven and nine hours of sleep nightly but that more than a third of us sleep less than seven hours a night. Too little sleep is associated with daytime drowsiness and with unintentionally falling asleep in the daytime.

So, how are you doing with your family routine? Need some tips to change it up? Visit the National Sleep Foundation and wake yourself up to some new ideas. Here are tips for catching better ZZZs